An Extraordinary Life

Dubbing Sally Ride a "lesbian astronaut" shortchanges her impact: Post-deathcoming out overblown

Sally Ride joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman to enterspace in 1983.
National Archives and Records Administration/Wiki
The Challenger rocketed into space on the morning of June 18, 1983. At age 32,Ride became (and still remains) the youngest American to enter space.
NASA/IBTimes.com
Ride went on to teach, write and found Sally Ride Science, an organizationintent on making the subject interesting to students.
The Telegraph

Sally Ride — a noted physicist, a science writer and the first American woman in space — passed away at 61 on Monday, following a 17-month-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

I vividly remember learning about Ride in elementary school, being struck by her courage and the way that she stood out in photographs of the extremely-white-male-dominanted Challenger crew.

In the wake of her death, Ride's legacy seems destined to be tinged with a more personal detail. A statement published on the Sally Ride Science website quietly revealed, after a lifetime of carefully-guarded privacy, her 27-year relationship with partner Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy.

While Ride's relationship shouldn't be reduced to a footnote in her extraordinary life, this nonchalant, posthumous "coming out" isn't the story.

This longtime bond was well-known by her friends and family — but not by the media, which has picked up on Ride's sexual orientation and examined it from every angle, with "lesbian" tossed in headlines alongside "astronaut."

But while Ride's relationship with O'Shaughnessy shouldn't be reduced to a footnote in her extraordinary life, this nonchalant, posthumous "coming out" isn't the story.

The story is that Ride's history is brimming with female firsts. That she was selected, one out of 8,000 applicants, to the NASA space program at a time when women were only barely allowed.

That Ride trained as an astronaut and made two trips to space aboard the Challenger, and then served on the panel and asked tough questions following the shuttle's horrific explosion just a few years later. That she went on to teach and write and found an organization intent on making science interesting to children, especially girls.

At a NASA news conference, in response to an onslaught of sexist comments and gender-focused questions in anticipation of her first trip to space in 1983, Ride said, "It’s too bad this is such a big deal. It’s too bad our society isn't further along."

Perhaps she would have responded the same way today.

unspecified

no more trips to Colorado

Bill to legalize marijuana in Texas filed by Dallas Democrat

Photo courtesy of Texas Original

undefined

Texas Rep. Jessica González (D-Dallas) has filed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas. House Bill 1208 would legalize the cultivation, manufacturing, transportation, and sale of cannabis.

The bill would allow adults 21 and older to use, possess, and transport up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for personal use. Adults could also keep up to 10 ounces of cannabis in their residence, as long as it is stored in a secure location.

Smoking or consuming cannabis while in a public place or in a car on a public road would not be allowed.

Gonzalez filed the bill in mid-November, one in a suite of bills that also included expanding insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization for LGBTQ couples; and requiring landlords to disclose all fees before a rental lease is signed.

Her bill was filed prior to an initiative launched by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on December 4 to ban THC products in Texas entirely.

In addition to legalizing recreational use, the bill also makes provisions for its production and sale including requiring that the packaging be child-resistent and clearly labeled, so that it's not confused for candy.

Businesses looking to grow, transport, test, or sell cannabis would need to be licensed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. A 10 percent tax would be imposed on the sale of all cannabis and cannabis products. Some of the profits would go towards funding public schools.

If passed, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2025.

Medical cannabis is currently legal in Texas under the Texas Compassionate Use Program, which allows low-THC cannabis to be prescribed for conditions such as epilepsy, MS, autism, cancer, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some cities have also approved decriminalization for the possession of four ounces or less of marijuana, including Austin, Bastrop, Dallas, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and Lockhart.

politics marijuana